


Pillow Talk

by hgleiser



Category: Motorcycling RPF
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Hotels, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-20 03:52:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8235136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hgleiser/pseuds/hgleiser
Summary: Jorge and Dani discover that the end of their intense rivalry is the beginning of something more.  Many, many championship points(and a side of churros)to L. for correcting my typos and historical inaccuracies.  Rated teen for some swearing.





	

_Being up this late means you’re either in love or lonely. I think I’m both._

Jorge reaches out from under the blankets, switches the light off for what he hopes is the last time, and pulls one of the extra pillows to his chest.  _Not to mention pretty pathetic._

He’s never been one for much physical affection, having conditioned himself to feel close to the people around him for a certain amount of time before breaking the bonds and forging new ones with others in hopes that it will give them less time to betray him and for most of his career it’s worked. He only wishes human nature allowed the same but since it doesn’t, he resigns himself to deal with what he thinks is a stupid urge the only way he knows how. _It’s not even about sex,_ he thinks. _It would be a hell of a lot easier to explain if it was._

He sighs in frustration and gives the pillow a squeeze.  _Pretty pathetic? Try very pathetic._

As soon as his eyelids begin to feel heavy, his phone buzzes and the screen dimly lights the room for a moment. “Go away,” he mumbles into the pillow. “Some of us are trying to sleep.”

The screen lights up again. “Did you not hear me? Go away.”

By the time it happens again several minutes later, he’s made up his mind to either turn it off until morning or throw it across the room and reaches out with a groan. “Whatever it is cannot be that important.”

The name on the notifications is enough to almost make him drop the phone in shock.  _Dani. Former rival, current crush, and almost infuriatingly attractive Dani Pedrosa. What did I do to deserve this? I’ve been nice to the press. I’ve been civil to Rossi. Why?_

Even though Dani was no longer a thorn in Jorge’s side in public, their feud recently over much to the relief of their respective teams, he had become so much of one in private that he had begun to wonder if there was a second of the day he  _didn’t_ spend thinking about him. He made more of his morning coffee than usual by mistake and wanted Dani around to drink the rest of it. He walked around the streets of Lugano by himself and wished for Dani to keep him company. And, most annoyingly, he was spending tonight embracing a pillow wishing it was Dani instead. He was five feet two inches of tanned skin and inconvenience. It wasn’t  _fair._ It just  _wasn’t._

He opens the messages and braces himself.

 

_I can’t sleep. Are you awake?_

_Have important question to ask you but not until I know you’ll answer. Wake up._

_Wake. Up._

_Are you ignoring me?_

 

“If ignoring you means I’m trying to sleep,” he complains aloud, “then I am ignoring you every night. I wish I was.”

 

_Go back to sleep, Pedrosa._

A reply arrives almost instantly.  _Important question._

 

_Fine. What is it?_

_You know what I’ve always wondered..? How do tall people like you actually sleep at night when the blanket can’t possibly cover you from your shoulders to your toes???_

 

Jorge groans. “He can’t be serious.”

 

_Is four o’clock in the fucking morning!! Go back to sleep._

_So...you can’t sleep, huh?_

_...is it because of the blanket?_

_No, it’s because you’re keeping me up. Are you drunk?_

_A little…_

_That’s what I thought. Something on your mind?_

_Not much except you._

_What are you talking about?_

_I’ll come to your room._

 

He puts the phone down and facepalms into the pillow with a grunt of frustration. “That’s the last thing I need right now.” The situation is spiraling out of control and he’s not sure how to stop it, being sure that Dani won’t take no for an answer even if he types it until his fingers cramp beyond use. “He annoys me on the phone and now he’s going to annoy me in person. Great.”

Another buzzing noise from the phone, another grunt as he picks it up.

_I know you’re in there. I’m outside._

He takes his time getting out of bed and turning the lights on to no avail.

“Good morning."

"You didn't come here because of a blanket, did you?" It's a weak attempt at humor, he knows, but it's his first instinct to defuse the situation and distract himself from the sight of Dani shirtless leaning in his doorway in the middle of the night. "Is a waste of time."

Dani rolls his eyes. "Trust you to joke at a time like this. I can't stand it anymore, I need to tell you..." He fidgets, lacing his fingers together and refusing to meet Jorge's eyes. "The end of our rivalry meant the beginning of something else for me."

"I know what you mean."

Dani blinks. "I haven't finished yet."

"You think I haven't felt as confused as you? It seemed a little too good to be true when it was over. We just...we stopped being assholes to each other. I wasn't sure it would last." "We've made it a month." The corner of Dani's mouth twitches in a teasing smile. "The honeymoon period is over. Now we find out if we can make it last."

"I said it was a few years before we get married, Pedrosa." Jorge giggles. "You're moving too fast for me! Buy me dinner first."

"Too much attention. That's why I'm here. I don't want anyone knowing how I feel about you except you."

“The media, yeah?”

Dani nods. “You know I hate press conferences.”

Jorge has always viewed dealing with journalists as a necessary evil, the last mundane task to complete before he’s allowed to fully celebrate a good race or recover from a bad one, but the past year has given him more than enough reasons to empathize. “Your ears burn from how much they ask me about you?”

“I think Marc’s do from how often they ask him about you,” Dani retorts.

Jorge rolls his eyes. _You party in Ibiza one weekend after the season ends with another rider, people see your hand on his ass, and they assume you’re a couple. We were friends. Lonely, drunk friends who don’t remember half of what happened._ “It wasn’t what you might think.”

“That’s what he says when I ask him about you too.”

The thought of that makes Jorge’s stomach turn. It’s no use hiding a few days of indiscretion in the age of Instagram, he knows, but it’s the last thing about him he wants his crush to discuss with his one-time friend with benefits when he’s already made an effort to put so much of his past behind himself. Calling off their rivalry was the most recent step in a journey he’s never felt closer to completing before now.  _Who motivates you to change,_ he remembers his communications coach asking during their first meeting.  _Your friends? Your fans?_

An easy smile and dark eyes that definitely didn’t belong to Marc had appeared in his mind’s eye.  _I want someone I care about to see me for who I am._

“He was curious and so was I. Turns out he prefers bikes to girls  _and_ boys.” 

Dani instantly doubles over laughing. “I could have told you that. I think he kisses his bikes goodnight when he’s at home instead!”

“Shh! You’ll wake everyone up. I don’t want to have to deal with Valentino after two extra espressos and neither do you.” He puts his hands on Dani’s shoulders and maneuvers him into the room, nudges the door closed with his foot, and sighs wearily. “Thanks for being a good listener, Pedrosa. I try to explain myself and you laugh at me.”

“Sorry.” Dani looks genuinely apologetic, which is enough to make Jorge forgive him at the same time he’s cursing himself for being moved by a maximum strength Puss In Boots face, and moves away from him to sit on the corner of the bed. “What happened?”

It’s one of the many times Jorge’s wished over the years that age would prematurely cloud his memory and make him forget or at least less able to remember the things he regrets most, but all that wasn’t washed away by alcohol is just as he left it the Monday after: eager fingers scratching at shirt buttons, lips pressing against every inch of accessible skin, and Marc’s hot breath in his ear moments before their last kiss.

_No puedo hacer esto._ Although the words no longer sting and they’ve since shared a couple of drinks to put it firmly in the past, he knows how easily history can repeat itself. _You have one bad race, you worry about the next one. You can fix all your mistakes and bad things can still happen. I could have a new beginning or an old ending._

With that in mind, he sits on the opposite corner of the bed to keep a respectable distance and commits himself to not making the first move.  _If it’s meant to be, it will be._

“We were at the same parties all weekend, dancing and teasing each other while drinking more than we should have. He almost kissed me Friday and Saturday night but we stopped and laughed. It seemed like a game, you know? We were testing each other. It was a competition to see who could give in first.”

“And Sunday?”

“Sunday night I lost. I couldn’t keep my hands off of him. We kissed, he laughed, we jumped in the pool and took each others’ shirts off, we kissed until he wasn’t laughing anymore.”

“Then what?”

Jorge shrugs. “He left. That’s all I remember before waking up with the worst hangover in the world.”

“No feelings there, then? From your end?”

“Not anymore. For someone who hates press conferences, you ask a lot of questions.”

“Only the ones I need answers to.”

Jorge tilts his head to one side and studies Dani’s expression, annoyed at how much better his poker face seems to be than his own, and frowns. “My turn to ask the questions. Now that we are friends and I’m the only one you want to know how you feel about me...how  _do_ you feel about me?”

In an instant Dani’s hands are tenderly cupping his cheeks and Jorge swears he can feel time slowing down all around him as their mouths meet, cautiously until he gives permission for more by way of wrapping his arms around Dani’s slender waist to bring him closer. There’s no burning passion or lust like with Marc, which strikes Jorge as odd until it occurs to him that  _of course_ there wouldn’t be—there’s a difference between trying to make a connection with another person out of little more than alcohol and raging hormones and letting a connection that’s already existed for better or worse reach its natural conclusion. Having spent so much time during their feud seeing what made Dani tick, Jorge already feels like he knows one side of Dani and while it’s not the best start by any means it’s one he’s willing to move forward with.  _Besides,_ he thinks as he pulls back,  _he’s an amazing kisser. Annoyingly so. Shit._

“Like that.” Dani grins. “You?”

“The same, though I’m still mad at you for keeping me awake.” Jorge grins back then yawns. “Can we get some sleep now?”

Dani stands up, takes a step toward the door, and before Jorge can completely grasp what sleep deprivation and the heady feeling of falling in love are about to compel him to do he reaches for his hand. “Stay here. Please. I can’t let you leave after all.”

“You sure?” Dani raises a skeptical eyebrow. “Should we take this slower?”

“Compared to how we live the rest of our lives, this  _is_ slower. Let’s get some rest.”

Dani stands on tiptoe and kisses Jorge’s cheek. “I hate when you’re right.”

Later, when they’re lying half-asleep in the dark, Jorge feels Dani inching closer to him then stopping just shy of his side of the bed with an annoyed mumble he can’t understand. “Why are there this many pillows? Want to be next to you.”

Jorge smiles to himself as he picks up the pillow and tosses it across the room, sighing with relief at the feel of Dani’s warm weight pressing into his side.  _Funny how things change._ “I have no idea.”


End file.
